Wouter Leclercq

Chapter 5 84 Figure 5.4 Recall of outcomes after bariatric surgery, that were addressed in the preoperative education. In the long-term, 8 young adults had a more complicated course after the bariatric surgery. Six patients had abdominal pain of whom 5 patients received 1 or more diagnostic laparoscopic surgeries. Abdominal wall pain, gallstones, wound infection and anemia, all educated during the SIC, were better recalled by patients with a complicated course compared to patients with a normal course (Figure 5.6). One patient, who received a primary gastric banding, did not achieve a %EWL >50% (primary non-responder), all other patients were primary responders. The recall of complications and health risks by the primary non-responder was at least comparable to the rest of the cohort. The patients who were interviewed within 1 year of their bariatric surgery (5/27) could better recall the complications, except for gallstones and osteoporosis, compared to the patients who were interviewed more than 1 year after the bariatric surgery. Surgical Informed Consent process More than one third of the patients found it very difficult to give consent for the bariatric surgery, despite the fact that they mentioned being informed sufficiently during the SIC process. About half of the patients missed some specific information prior to the surgery (Table 5.2). Some of themmentioned that, regardless of the information given, they were too young to make this decision on their own; they could not oversee all the effects, complications and lifestyle adjustments. There was a strong request to emphasize more on the effects of the bariatric surgery during a pregnancy on the mother and the fetus, on the menstrual problems and on the skin surplus in relation to the eligibility criteria for plastic surgery.